Seriously - THE best hamburger

[RazorDingo]

I've been cooking burgers for myself and guests all of my adult life. But a recent New York Times article has transformed the simple hamburger in haute cuisine.

The interesting thing about the Comme Ça Burger is not the ingredients - its basically 80% lean ground chuck with lettuce, cheese, and some seasonings on a toasted bun - so much as the technique. It treats the patty in much the same manner as you'd use to cook a steak. Read the recipe as well as the associated article for full details. But it really breaks down to this:

1) You want good beef - but not too lean.

2) Don't over handle the patty. Make a slight dimple in the center with your thumb. Read the article to understand why. Season generously with Kosher salt and ground pepper, just before cooking, to help create the perfect sear and heighten the flavors.

3) Sear the patty for two minutes a side on a hot, hot, hot pan

4) Transfer to a 375F oven for four minutes and bake, to achieve a perfectly evenly-cooked medium rare.

5) Remove from the oven and preheat the broiler. Use the broiler to melt the cheese, and toast the perfect bakery bun.

6) Top with chopped iceberg lettuce in a dressing made from mayo, ketchup, chili powder and cayenne pepper.

The pleasures of this burger cannot be overstated. The patty is juicy, without being undercooked. Melting the cheese under the broiler removes the sometimes nasty cold lump you sometimes get with most cheeseburgers. And the dressed lettuce adds a piquant, delicate flavor - without the sometimes harsh chemically elements you can get from ketchup.

Try it - and tell me if it isn't the best burger you've ever had.

 

[**Bingo_Bob**]

thanks for putting this up. I will definitely have to try this!

 

[danek]

This sounds like an challenge. I'll accept your challenge young man, and I promise to try your burger if you promise to try mine.

Makes 2 burgers, adapted from an Alton Brown recipe:
1) 1/4 pound each of beef chuck, pork shoulder and lamb chuck cut into 1" cubes.
2) Pulse in food processor with salt, pepper, garlic, 10-12 times for a rough grind.
3) Form into balls, using almost no pressure from hands, just tossing from right-to-left-to-right-etc.
4) squish balls into disc patties.
5) **optional** smoke for 1-2 hours in smoker, let rest 1-2 hours in fridge.
6) warm in indirect heat, not over fire, for 2 min, then grill over direct heat, natural coals, hot as you can get it. Remove when early medium rare, about 1.5 min per side.
7) let rest 5 min, so some but not all juice 'leaks' (if smoked, don't rest as they won't juice much). Grill buns to toasty.
8) dollop of mayo on bottom bun, then patty, then one slice o' tomato, top bun. Burger juice will mix with mayo on bottom bun and make a nice sauce, but shouldn't get the bun all sloppy.

Edit - I like the idea of "dimpling"; makes total sense!

 

[Noebie]

i do something similar with filet mignon - sear it on both sides in an iron skillet and then stick it under the broiler (sometimes with a little goat cheese on top) to finish up

will have to try it with the burger

 

[mretzloff]

Homemade burgers are the best. I might try this recipe this Friday (burger night in my family).

 

[DSB]

Jularington was a success. How about Septburger?

 

[wedwards]

thats a really good article. over the past 12 months i have by trial and error come to the same conclusions and use essentially the same processes. basically, if you want restaurant quality burgers, you have to cook them the same way as in a restaurant (i.e. put marks/brown both sides and straight in the over for good even cooking). you then need to ensure they rest on a plate covered with foil for 2 mins after cooking - this re-distributes the juices in the burger evenly). the other key is getting the right amount of salt on both sides before cooking - you need more than you would think, and it has the most significant impact on taste of the end product (IMHO).

you can basically use the exact same process for cooking steaks - just adjust timing to suit your portion of meat.

 

[Brodirt]

Its all about the not handling them too much. Even with crappy meat, and with this I mean basic super market meat...not chuck, because good chuck makes the best burgers, a properly formed burger will turn out good. Far better than one that is over packed and then, worse, over handled while cooking.

The NYTimes method is excellent, its nothing new though. Now if you want to truly take that method up a notch get your hands on some fresh ground prime chuck and you will truly experience a great burger.

Oh, and make sure that pan you use there is well seasoned cast iron. Preferably one that has never felt the taint of soap.

 

[Jatte]

i make a recipe that has half beef chuck, quarter deer roast, and either quarter lamb or quarter buffalo, if it's buffalo i need it fairly fatty because it's a dry meat,

i always add onion soup mix to the burgers and an egg and some grated potatoe, they are amazing, almost like meatballs but for a burger, sear , flip sear, cook for a couple minutes flip add cheese and finish cooking,

very very good
let rest for 2 minutes while you toast the buns,
and mayo on the bottom and ketchup and honey mustard on top

 

[Wendy]

What a bummer I am reading this now. I just made burgers tonight.

 

[_JP_]

The way that we did burgers was different, but kind of followed the same principals. Of course, don't over handle the meat. And don't keep flipping them when cooking, that only dries them out.

We cooked the burgers on a flat grill under individual domes, which served to keep the moisture in the meat. You can do the same with a covered skillet. Cook them just short of the desired temperature that you want and them add your toppings. Put a splash of water into the skillet and cover it so that the steam heats up the toppings quickly. Then serve.

 

[Nadir M]

This thread is making me hungry...Please, somebody post pictures of the finished product!

 

[OldSaw]

One word, Al's. Al's Hamburger Shop in Green Bay, WI. Of course, my wife refuses to walk into the joint, especially after watching the waitress swat flies on the counter with a fly swatter. I said, "what did you expect her to use, a rolled up newspaper?" She wasn't amused, but the burgers are nice and greasy... and so is the staff and most of the regular customers.

 

[Barbarian]

Hate to be a party-pooper, but there is a reason people don't cook burgers like they cook steaks. Escherichia coli 0157:H7.

Medium-well for my burgers - 155*F for 15 sec.

This is especially important if you are feeding smaller children in your families.

I know many people will state, 'I have been eating em for years without a problem.' I understand that. However, the burgers many people ate back in the day were ground by your home town butcher with home town beef, not mass produced in massive meat plants and prepacked to be sold in your local 'mega-store.'

Don't kill me for this.

 

[Austin]

I never buy lean beef for burgers. I like my burgers big and greasy. You can't beat the taste.

 

[Topgumby]

Hate to be a party-pooper, but there is a reason people don't cook burgers like they cook steaks. Escherichia coli 0157:H7.

Medium-well for my burgers - 155*F for 15 sec.

This is especially important if you are feeding smaller children in your families.

I know many people will state, 'I have been eating em for years without a problem.' I understand that. However, the burgers many people ate back in the day were ground by your home town butcher with home town beef, not mass produced in massive meat plants and prepacked to be sold in your local 'mega-store.'

Don't kill me for this.

You sir, are correct, and that is why I grind my own if I want a proper burger.

Sometimes a frozen CostCo patty that has the crap grilled out of it hits the spot, but for a real burger, I grind the meat and treat it like a steak-in-a-bun.

 

[wedwards]

You sir, are correct, and that is why I grind my own if I want a proper burger.

Sometimes a frozen CostCo patty that has the crap grilled out of it hits the spot, but for a real burger, I grind the meat and treat it like a steak-in-a-bun.

yeah i kinda assumed you were all grinding your own beef if you were getting that involved in burger making!

if you decided to use supermarket ground beef...well...if you die or end up very sick, dont come crying to me!!

 

[RazorDingo]

The technique described in this recipe, if anything, guarantees that the meat will be cooked to a proper temperature: 160 F.

By baking the patty in a hot oven, where we can precisely control both the temperature and the duration, as long as the thickness of the patty is not too great (it should be < 1"), simple physics will ensure that the meat is properly cooked, without becoming dried out.

I've done this recipe enough times, checking it with a meat thermometer, to appreciate the consistency of the results.

 

[Barbarian]

The technique described in this recipe, if anything, guarantees that the meat will be cooked to a proper temperature: 160 F.

By baking the patty in a hot oven, where we can precisely control both the temperature and the duration, as long as the thickness of the patty is not too great (it should be < 1"), simple physics will ensure that the meat is properly cooked, without becoming dried out.

I've done this recipe enough times, checking it with a meat thermometer, to appreciate the consistency of the results.

What got me was the 'a perfectly evenly-cooked medium rare' part.

 

[dwnwrdishvnwrd]

I still make burgers every once in a while if I'm having a party (I'm vegetarian) and I normally go with chuck, short ribs, and brisket for my beef, 1/3rd of each. To that I add fresh ground mustard seed, fresh ground black pepper, sea salt, cayenne pepper, pureed onion and garlic, a mixture of room temp butter and black truffle oil, and some eggs. I'll normally beat all of the dry ingredients and the butter/oil mixture into the eggs and then fold the eggs into the beef.